Lessico “vero” e vocabolari in Grazia Deledda. Appunti linguistici su La via del male

Rita Fresu

First

2025-01-01

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Abstract

The paper investigates Grazia Deledda’s relationship with lexicographic tools, particularly dialectal repertoires, in the initial phase of her adherence to the “truth”, through the examination of some Sardinian terms contained in La Via del Male, a fundamental stage in the writer’s literary maturation and a paradigmatic case, with its four printed editions, of her constant variantistic work. In this novel, the search for authenticity produces an intentional increase in local element through insertion of Sardinian words and phrases. The analysis confirms, substantiating it with linguistic data, the writer’s trust in the oral source, and shows through some specific cases the relevance of the demological experience of Deledda during the writing of the novel, which strengthens her active competence in Sardinian and feeds, probably more than book tools, at least in this phase, the lexical stock that can be used at a narrative level.